Planes, trains, and old Ambassador sedans.

It's hard to believe we'll be in Kolkata tomorrow, making our way through the city, boarding an Indian train. We'll be visiting friends in Varanasi before taking the LONG train ride south, back to our house in Goa. Hooray!

We're all very excited.

Last night we took the night train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, arriving in the morning for one last day in this big city. I ran around and collected a few things that I know I won't be able to get in India.

Things I liked today:

1. Solo waking up this morning, blinking, taking a deep breath and saying "I'm on a train!" with pure joy in his voice.

2. Looking at all the pens in a huge department store. Touching the paper.

3. The recycling man outside my guesthouse, taking his time looping the handles of big empty soy sauce bottles together in a big bottle necklace for a giant.

4. The brilliant red and purple sunset, behind the buildings, over the river.

5. On the sky train, when the train jerked unexpectedly, and everyone in my train car collectively lost their balance and did a little hop, simultaneously.

6. Pausing to watch the outdoor dancercize class in the parking lot at the skytrain station. I liked all ages, especially the older ladies, but especially the man in the yellow polo shirt, balding with glasses, who windmilled his skinny arms with abandon, completely off time. I honestly felt, watching, that I loved him.

7. The sound of the water taxi whistles. They're signals; as the boat gets close to the dock, the guy in charge of tying the boat and getting the people on uses whistle signals to tell the driver what to do. They ring out over the water sharply, as the night breeze lifts a little of the humidity away from me.

Goodbye, Thailand. I love you.